Broom-holder.



N. FAUCHER.

BROOM HOLDER.

APPLICATION TILED MAY 27, 1912.

1,071,222, Patented Aug. 26, 1913.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

NAPOLEON FAUCHER, OF LAWRENCE, MASSACHUSETTS.

BROOM-HOLDER.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, NAPOLEON liaucnnn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Lawrence, in the county of Essex and State of id assachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Broomlloldcrs; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to brush and broom supports, and its object is to provide a device of this character which will grip the handle of the brush or broom in such manner that the latter cannot slip dowmvard through the support or holder until its bristles strike the floor. The latter or the carpet thereon is thus preserved from contact with bristles which may be soiled or wet.

The object of the invention carried out by providing the inner faces of the gripping jaws with cushions of some yielding material.

The entire device is hereinafter more fully described and claimed, and is shown in the drawings attached, in which Figure 1 is a perspective View of this device, and. Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical section showing the manner in which the cushions are inserted.

In its preferred form this invention comprises what might be called a fixed jaw secured to an upright such as the wall or a door frame, a movable jaw pivotally connected with the fixed jaw and borne toward the latter by a spring around the hinge piir tle or pivot, and cushions in the gripping faces of the two jaws.

The entire device excepting the cushions may well be made of metal castings or might be stamped from sheet metal properly bent to give the parts the shape hereinafter set forth, and the whole will be treated with nickel or brass to give it a tasteful appearance.

Otherwise than as set forth in the claim appended, I do not wish to be limited to the precise details of construction, and the sizes, proportions, and materials of parts are of course unimportant.

The fixed j aw comprises upper and lower arms 1 and 2 rigidly connected by an upright 3, forward of which they converge Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 27, 1912.

iiatcnted A ug. 26,1913. Serial No. 699,992.

and unite in a lip 4-, and to the rear of said uprightthese arn'is are provided with vertically alined eyes 5, while their rear extremities are turned aside into feet (3 pierced with apertures T for fz'istening screws by means of which the device is attached to an upright (not shown). The movable aw likewise comprises upper and lower arms 11 and 12 connected by an upright 18, forward of which they converge into a lip ll, and in rear of said upright the arms are provided with vertically alined eyes 15 ovei'lapping these numbered 5 on the fixed jaw as shown. Through the four superimposed eyes is passed a pivot pin or bolt 16, and upon the same is coiled two springs 17 each having one arm 18 engaging the upright 3 of one jaw and the other arm 19 engaging the upright 13 of the other jaw with a tendency to throw said jaws toward each other. In plan view, as will be clear, the jaws are bowed slightly, forward of their pivot, so as to produce an opening 20 in which the handle of the broom stands when engaged with this holder, then the jaws converge and normally contact at the point 21, and the lips 4 and 14 spread apart or diverge forward of this point as seen.

The essential feature of this invention consists in providing each jaw where its arms merge into its upright with a socket or cavity whose axis is inclined toward the center of said upright opening 20 and whose bore flares toward it as seen, and within said socket is placed a plug or cushion as of cork or rubber 26 with the head thereof projecting beyond the inner face of the arms of the jaws for some little distance. If the device is intended for use in connection with a broom handle of small size, it is quite possible to remove these cushions and insert other cushions such as corks or plugs which project farther into the opening 20 so as to reduce the size thereof when the jaws stand in gripping position. Similarly it is possible to withdraw plugs or cushions which have become worn, and substitute others. But in any event I prefer that their inner ends should project beyond the metal members of the broom holder, so that the broom handle when in place therein is slightly rolled toward the hinged portion of the holder and gripped between the two pairs of cushions the ends of which, being rather soft, will not injure the handle in any respect and will hold it frictionally in such manner that the broom cannot slip downward by its own weight so that its brush would eventually come in contact with the floor or carpet. This feature is of especial advantage where the broom has been used for sweeping in dirty or moist places, or where a mop is to be held in the broom holder and it is essential that the wet and perhaps soiled mop cloth should not touch the carpet.

The use of known.

The lips & and 1 may be manually spread apart, or the broom handle forced between them until it reaches the upright aperture 20, when the movable jaw swings toward the fixed jaw and the cushions contact with opposite sides of the handle to hold the latter in place. To remove the broom from the holder, a reversal of the operation is all that is required, and if it should happen that the handle is that of an expensive and highly finished vacuum cleaning machine, the lips may be parted by hand as the handle is drawn out of the device so that such handle devices of this kind is well Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the A will not be marred or scratched either in inserting or removing 1t.

hat is claimed as new is The herein described broom holder consisting of a fixed jaw, a jaw hinged to the latter, tapering yielding and detachable cushion plugs adapted to be received by correspondingly shaped openings in the lower and upper arms of said jaws along the intermediate portions thereof, said jaws having outwardly flaring contacting portions eX- tending beyond the plugs, the enlarged ends of the latter projecting inwardly from said jaws and arranged opposite to one another and in vertical alinement whereby a broom is adapted to be slightly rolled and forced into the holder the same and held in position by the edges of said plugs.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

NAPOLEON FAUOHER. Witnesses:

ODILON FAUOHER, DAVID DAIGLE.

Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0.

beyond the flaring ends of 

